Great Eastern Holdings G07 % has reported earnings of $3.3 million for 4QFY2022, down 99% y-o-y, as the valuation of its insurance contract liabilities in the Singapore non-participating business got "adversely" impacted by market movements.
For the whole of FY2022, earnings dropped by 30% to $784.2 million, largely reflecting the lower valuation of investments given the challenging global investment climate.
Operating Profit from its insurance business, meanwhile, managed to grow at a "healthy" pace of 7% over FY2021.
For 4QFY2022, Great Eastern's TWNS, or total weighted new sales, was down by 9% y-o-y. For the whole of FY2022, the drop was 3%.
The company explains that while regular premium sales improved, it suffered from lower sales from the single premium plans.
Great Eastern plans to pay a final dividend of 55 cents, bringing the payout for FY2022 to 65 cents.
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"While the Group’s profit was impacted by the volatility in the global financial markets during the year, our investment portfolio remains sound and our capital position also remains strong," says group CEO Khor Hock Seng.
He notes that the company's NBEV, or new business embedded value increased by 9%, while the operating profit from insurance was up by 7%, as "good growth momentum" continued.
"Looking ahead, the business climate remains challenging, reflecting geopolitical uncertainty, a difficult investment climate and inflationary pressures," says Khor.
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"We remain positive on the long-term growth potential of the markets we operate in and will continue to strengthen our business model and build a resilient and sustainable business for the long term," he adds.
Shares in Great Eastern closed 12 cents higher or 0.64% up at $18.79 on Feb 21.
